M/S Sophocles
Updated July 17-2012

To Sophocles on the "Ships starting with S" page.


This is a picture of Skauvann - see Post War details at the end of this page.
From Sverre Johansen's postcard collection.

Related item on this website:
My Norwegian Guestbook has a message from the daughter of someone who served on Sophocles, Kristian H. Buen. He also served on Elsa. If anyone knew him, I can provide her E-mail address via my contact address given at the bottom of this page.

Her voyages are listed on these original images from the Norwegian National Archives:
Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4

Please compare the above voyages with Arnold Hague's Voyage Record below.

Voyage Record From March-1940 to Sept.-1945:

Follow the convoy links provided for more information on each.

	Departure	From	To	Arrival	Convoy	Remarks
1940	March 29	Yokohama	Los Angeles	Apr. 15	Independent	–
	Apr. 25	Los Angeles	Balboa	May 4	Independent	–
	May 7	Cristobal	New York City	May 14	Independent	–
	May 19	New York City	Boston	May 19	Independent	–
	May 20	Boston	Philadelphia	May 23	Independent	–
	May 26	Philadelphia	Baltimore	May 27	Independent	–
	May 31	Baltimore	Galveston	June 7	Independent	See also Page 1
	June 15	Galveston	New Orleans	June 17	Independent	–
	June 19	New Orleans	New York City	June 25	Independent	–
	July 22	New York City	Hampton Roads	July 23	Independent	–
	Sept. 12	Hampton Roads	Halifax	Sept. 16	Independent	–
	Sept. 21	Halifax	Liverpool	Oct. 7	HX 75	See also narrative below
	Oct. 23	Liverpool	–	–	OB 233	Dispersed Oct. 27. Convoy available at OB 233 (external link)
	Oct. 27	Dispersed from OB 233	Montreal	Nov. 4	Independent	–
	Nov. 20	Montreal	Sydney, C.B.	–	Independent	–
	Nov. 26	Sydney, C.B.	Oban	Dec. 9	HX 91	–
	Dec. 10	Oban	Methil	Dec. 13	WN 52	Convoy available at WN convoys (external link)
	Dec. 17	Methil	Tyne	Dec. 18	FS 362	Convoy available at FS convoys (external link)
	Dec. 28	Tyne	Methil	Dec. 29	FN 368	Convoy available at FN convoys (external link) On to Leith - See Page 1
1941	Jan. 17	Methil	Oban	Jan. 20	EN 58/1	Convoy available at EN convoys (external link)
	Jan. 25	Oban	St. John, N.B.	Febr. 5	Independent	–
	Febr. 11	St. John, N.B.	New York City	Febr. 12	Independent	–
	Febr. 22	New York City	Philadelphia	Febr. 23	Independent	–
	Febr. 26	Philadelphia	New York City	Febr. 26	Independent	–
	March 5	New York City	St Thomas	March 10	Independent	–
	March 10	St Thomas	Antigua	–	Independent	–
	March 12	Antigua	Capetown	March 31	Independent	–
	Apr. 1	Capetown	Aden	Apr. 16	Independent	–
	Apr. 16	Aden	Suez	Apr. 21	Independent	On to Port Said, Apr. 23 (Page 1)
	Apr. 23	Port Said	Alexandria	Apr. 24	Independent	–
*	May 5	Alexandria	Port Said	May 5	Independent	–
	*Page 1 gives departure Alexandria May 7, arrival Port Said May 8.
	May 29	Suez	Aden	June 3	Independent	See also Page 2
	June 6	Aden	Bombay	June 12	Independent	–
	June 19	Bombay	Karachi	June 22	Independent	–
	June 29	Karachi	Capetown	July 19	Independent	–
	July 21	Capetown	Boston	–	Independent	Page 2 gives arrival Aug. 16
	Aug. 23	Boston	New York City	Aug. 24	Independent	–
	Sept. 18	New York City	Halifax	Sept. 20	Independent	–
	Sept. 22	Halifax	Liverpool	Oct. 8*	HX 151	5 Passengers (*Page 2 gives arrival Oct. 6, see also narrative below)
	Oct. 8	Liverpool	Holyhead	Oct. 8	Independent	–
	Oct. 10	Holyhead	Cardiff	Oct. 11	BB 86	Convoy available at BB convoys (external link)
	Oct. 23	Cardiff	Milford Haven	Oct. 24	Independent	–
	Oct. 25	Milford Haven	–	–	ON 30	For Montreal. (Via Belfast Lough - Page 2) Dispersed 43 10N 52 33W, Nov. 9.
	Nov. 9	Dispersed from ON 30	Montreal	Nov. 13	Independent	–
	Nov. 24	Montreal	Trinidad	Dec. 3	Independent	–
	Dec. 5	Trinidad	Capetown	Dec. 24	Independent	–
	Dec. 25	Capetown	Aden	Jan. 8-1942	Independent	–
1942	Jan. 8	Aden	Suez	Jan. 13	Independent	Arr. Port Said next day (Page 2)
	Jan. 18	Port Said	Alexandria	Jan. 19	Independent	–
	Jan. 31	Alexandria	Port Said	Febr. 1	Independent	On to Suez, same day (Page 2)
	Febr. 5	Suez	Cochin	Febr. 15	Independent	–
	Febr. 25	Cochin	–	–	C 3	251 troops. Dispersed 00 40N 78 10E, Febr. 27. Convoy available at C 3 (external link)
	Febr. 27	Dispersed from C 3	Fremantle	March 10	Independent	–
	March 12	Fremantle	Adelaide	March 17	Independent	–
	March 26	Adelaide	Port Pirie	March 28	Independent	–
	Apr. 3	Port Pirie	Wallaroo	Apr. 3	Independent	–
	Apr. 8	Wallaroo	Balboa	May 8	Independent	–
	May 10	Cristobal	Key West	May 15	Independent	–
	May 15	Key West	Hampton Roads	–	KN 100	Convoy available at KN convoys (external link) Not included, Page 2
	May 27	New York City	Cape Cod Bay	–	Independent	–
	May 29	Cape Cod Bay	Halifax	May 31	BX 21	Convoy available at BX convoys (external link)
	May 31	Halifax	Belfast Lough	June 10	HX 192	–
	June 11	Belfast Lough	Avonmouth	June 12	BB 185	Convoy available at BB convoys (external link)
	June 16	Avonmouth	Swansea	June 17	Independent	–
	June 29	Swansea	Milford Haven	June 29	Independent	–
	June 30	Milford Haven	–	–	OS 33	For Capetown. (Via Belfast Lough - Page 3). Detached July 20. Convoy available at OS 33 See also this page (external links)
	July 20	Detached from OS 33	Capetown	July 27	Independent	–
	July 29	Capetown	Durban	Aug. 2	Independent	–
	Aug. 2	Durban	Aden	Aug. 13	Independent	–
	Aug. 13	Aden	Suez	Aug. 18	Independent	Compare w/Page 3
	Aug. 29	Suez	Port Sudan	Aug. 31	Independent	–
	Sept. 2	Port Sudan	Kosseir	–	Independent	–
	Sept. 7	Kosseir	Aden	Sept. 11	Independent	–
	Sept. 11	Aden	Guardafui	Sept. 25	Independent	A. Hague says: With broken crankshaft
	Oct. 1	Guardafui	Aden	Oct. 4	In tow	–
1943	March 22	Aden	Bombay	Apr. 4	In tow	–
1944	June 17	Bombay	Aden	June 25	BA 73	After completion of crankshaft repairs. Convoy available at BA 73 (external link)
	June 27	Aden	Rio	July 30	Independent	–
	Aug. 3	Rio	Rio Grande	Aug. 6	Independent	Arr. Santos, Aug. 17 (Page 3)
	Aug. 23	Santos	Freetown	Sept. 3	Independent	–
	Sept. 8	Freetown	–	–	SL 170	3 Passengers. Rendezvoused w/MKS 61, Sept. 18. Convoy available at SL 170 (external link)
	Sept. 18	SL 170 & MKS 61 joined up	Falmouth	Sept. 24	SL 170/MKS 61	Convoy available at SL 170/MKS 61 (see also this page, external links)
	Sept. 25	Falmouth	Solent	Sept. 26	EBC 114	Convoy available at EBC convoys (external link) Compare w/Page 3
	Sept. 26	Solent	Southend	Sept. 27	FTC 20A	Convoy available at FTC convoys (external link)
	Oct. 20	Southend	New York City	Nov. 5	ON 261	–
	Nov. 24	New York City	Southend	Dec. 8	HX 322	(Again, see also Page 3)
	Dec. 23	Southend	New York City	Jan. 8-1945	ON 274	Convoy will be added. See ships in ON convoys
1945	Jan. 28	New York City	Liverpool	Febr. 11	HX 335	–
	Febr. 26	Liverpool	New York City	March 13	ON 287	Convoy will be added. See link above
	March 29	New York City	Downs	Apr. 14	HX 347	Convoy will be added. See ships in HX convoys
	Apr. 26	Southend	New York City	May 12	ON 299	See also Page 3 & Page 4 Convoy will be added. See ships in ON convoys
	Apr. 29*	New York City	Liverpool	June 8	Independent	*Should be May 29
	June 19	Liverpool	New York City	July 10	Independent	Page 4 gives arrival NY July 1
	July 18	New York City	Liverpool	July 29	Independent	–
	Aug. 7	Liverpool	New York City	Aug. 18	Independent	–
	Aug. 22	New York City	Baltimore	Aug. 24	Independent	–
	Sept. 2	Baltimore	Oslo	Sept. 17	Independent	Via Kirkwall, Sept. 14 (Page 4)
	Sept. 15*	Oslo	Gothenburg	Sept. 25	Independent	*Should be Sept. 25 Subsequent voyages, Page 4

Misc. Convoy Voyages – 1940-1945:

For information on voyages made in between those mentioned here, please see the documents received from the National Archives of Norway and A. Hague's Voyage Record above. Follow the links provided for more convoy information; the Commodore's notes and/or narratives are also available for some of them and several Norwegian ships took part.

From Page 1 of the archive documents, we learn that Sophocles was on her way from Yokohama to Los Angeles when war broke out in Norway on Apr. 9-1940. It'll also be noticed that she had quite a long stay in New York that summer, before proceeding to Hampton Roads, where she also stayed for a long time. With steel, lumber and general for Liverpool, she had been scheduled for Convoy HX 64 as well as for HX 65 from Halifax to the U.K. in Aug.-1940, but did not sail (she was still at Hampton Roads when these convoys sailed). She eventually joined Convoy HX 75 on Sept. 21, and the following month she shows up, together with Carmelfjell, Leka and Morgenen, in Convoy OB 233, which left Liverpool on Oct. 23 and dispersed on the 27th; see the external link provided within the Voyage Record. No destination is given for Sophocles, but according to the archive document, she arrived Montreal on Nov. 4, and later that month she joined the Sydney, C.B. portion of Convoy HX 91, bound for Newcastle with general cargo. Cruising order/Commodore's notes are also available.

Skipping now to Sept. 22-1941, when she's listed in Convoy HX 151 from Halifax. She left port at 12:41 that day according to a document received from T. Agar, England, and was initially given station 103, but she must have had some kind of a problem because she's said to have left the convoy at 14:50, anchored south of St. George's, then later sailed on independently - Page 2 shows her voyages in this period. Other Norwegian ships in this convoy were Sama, San Andres, Meline, Morgenen, Belinda, Dagrun, Thorshøvdi, Tigre, Hardanger, Leiv Eiriksson and Laurits Swenson. The following month we find her in station 35 of the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 30, which originated in Liverpool on Oct. 26 and dispersed Nov. 9 - see also the Commodore's narrative. Sophocles was bound for Montreal on that occasion, and according to the archive document she arrived there on Nov. 13, having sailed from Belfast Lough on Oct. 27.

At the end of May-1942 she can be found in Convoy HX 192 from Halifax to the U.K. She arrived Avonmouth (via Belfast Lough) on June 12, later proceeding to Swansea (Page 2). She subsequently made a voyage to Capetown, having sailed in Convoy OS 33 (station 84), which left Liverpool on July 1. Please go to the external website that I've linked to in the table above for a lot more information on the passage of this convoy, which lost several ships. Ingria, Jenny and Maloja are also listed. It looks like Sophocles, carrying military stores, joined from Belfast Lough; she arrived Table Bay on July 27, continuing to Durban 2 days later - see Page 3.

A story written by an able seaman says that when he joined Sophocles in Bombay in Apr.-1944, she had been there for a couple of years* waiting for replacement parts so that she could be repaired (according to A. Hague, she had a broken crankshaft). She could then finally head back to sea with first stop Aden, then around South Africa to Brazil, going by Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande du Sul and Santos. He says she left Santos on Aug. 23, arriving London at the end of Sept.-1944. This voyage had been made, with a cargo of canned goods, linters, rice, coffee, salted hides, pine, cotton, leather, cotton waste, hair, and 3 passengers, in Convoy SL 170 / MKS 61. The SL portion of this convoy, in which Sophocles sailed, had left Freetown on Sept. 8 and joined up with the MKS portion from Gibraltar on Sept. 18, the combined convoy arriving Liverpool on Sept. 26 - according to Page 3, Sophocles arrived Falmouth on Sept. 24. Belnor, Novasli and Somerville also took part, Belnor having joined with the MKS portion, while the others were in the SL convoy. More convoy information is available via the external links in the Voyage Record. MKS 61 will also be added to my own site; in the meantime, see the section listing ships in all MKS convoys.

* Although she had not been in Bombay for as long as "a couple of years" at that time, this corresponds with the information found on Page 3 of the archive documents, where the last voyage mentioned for 1942 is when she left Aden on Sept. 11 for Fremantle. There seems to be a voyage missing from the document, because she's said to have put back to Aden on Oct. 4-1942 (but see A. Hague's Voyage Record). The next entry shows her leaving Aden in tow for Bombay on March 22-1943, arriving Bombay on Apr. 4, and she did not leave again until June 17-1944, with arrival Aden on June 25 (convoy info in Voyage Record above). The subsequent entries agree on the whole with what the able seaman recalls.

In Oct.-1944 she's listed as bound for New York in the westbound North Atlantic Convoy ON 261, heading back across the Atlantic on Nov. 24 with Convoy HX 322 from New York, general cargo for London. Together with Høyanger, Kristianiafjord, Kronprinsessen, Laurits Swenson, Marathon, Molda, Samuel Bakke (Commodore Vessel), Solør and Velma, she later joined the westbound Convoy ON 274*, departing Southend on Dec. 23-1944, arriving New York on Jan. 8-1945.

On Jan. 28-1945 we find her, with a general cargo and explosives for Liverpool, in Convoy HX 335 from New York, returning with Convoy ON 287* (station 111), which left Southend on Febr. 25 and arrived New York on March 14 and also had Buenos Aires, Norsktank, Østhav, Roald Amundsen, Solfonn, Strix, Thorshov and Tiradentes among its ranks. Some of these ships, including Sophocles, which served as Commodore Vessel (Commodore R.G. Bruusgaard, Royal Norwegian Navy), went back to the U.K. in Convoy HX 347*, which left New York on March 29 and arrived Liverpool on Apr. 14 (again, see also Page 3). Buenos Aires, Brasil, Dalfonn, Fenris, Lektor Garbo, Marit II, Roald Amundsen, Sverre Helmersen and Thorsholm are listed, as is the Panamanian Norlys, which is included under the N's of this website because she had Norwegian managers. Sophocles had a general cargo and locomotives, sailing in station 61. VE Day was celebrated at sea while in the westbound Convoy ON 299*, which left Southend on Apr. 26 and arrived New York May 13 and included Buenos Aires, Fagerfjell, Glarona, Kaldfonn and Lektor Garbo. When she headed back to Liverpool at the end of that month, no convoy was necessary.

Her subsequent voyages (to Apr.-1946) are shown on Page 4. As can be seen, she got to go home to Norway in Sept.-1945.

* The ON convoys will be added to individual pages in my Convoys section in due course, along with further details on each - in the meantime, the ships sailing in them (and escorts) are named in the section listing ships in all ON convoys. Note also that the entire HX series will be updated and completed, including the already existing convoys (some have already been updated), but for now, other ships in Convoy HX 347 are listed in the section for ships in all HX convoys. Escorts can be found on this page.

More info on the other Norwegian ships mentioned here can be found via the alphabet index below, or go to the Master Ship Index

POST WAR:

According to this external page, she was renamed Skauvann in 1947. From 1959, owned by Rederi A/B Petra (Claes Manne), Gothenburg, renamed Carla. From 1962, Rederi A/B Petra (J. E. Manne & Co.), Gothenburg, no name change. From 1963, sailed as Timios Stavros for Derpa Cia. S.A (J. Livanos), Piræus. From 1963, Drive Shipping Transport Org. Co.,Valetta, Malta, same name. From 1969, Levantine Sea Transport Co. (J. Livanos & Sons Sh), Valetta. Sold in Apr.-1972 for breaking up, arriving Istanbul that same month.

Back to Sophocles on the "Ships starting with S" page.

The text on this page was compiled with the help of: "The World's Merchant Fleets 1939", R. W. Jordan, the Norwegian magazine "Krigsseileren", the late A. Hague's listing for ON and HX convoys, and misc. other (ref. My sources).